Kristallnacht

• A Polish Jew shot dead a German diplomat in Paris, to protest against the government's anti-Semitism


  7th of November 1938
• In an act of revenge against the shooting


  1. The Nazi party organised a wave of revenge attacks against Jewish businesses and synagogues

  2. Over 8000 businesses and 200 synagogues were destroyed
• Wave of these devastating and violent attacks

  Kristallnacht (Crystal Night or Night of Broken Glass)
• Kristallnacht occurred

  9th and 10th of November 1938
• Previous actions had humiliated and stripped Jews of their rights, but there was limited physical violence
• Kristallnacht was the first nationwide event that saw the Jewish people being physically attacked
• During Kristallnacht, the police did nothing, choosing to sit back and watch the chaotic violence that gripped the Germans
• The Nazi-controlled press had presented Kristallnacht as a spontaneous reaction of ordinary Germans against Jews
• Most Germans did not believe the Nazi press's portrayal, but did not protest in fear of arrest and death
• After Kristallnacht, Jews were blamed, with some personal accounts talking about Jews being beaten and murdered in the streets and their homes
• Jews were required to meet the cost of damage to their properties themselves
• The Jewish community was ordered to pay a fine of 1 billion Reichsmarks


  12th of November
• A decree was introduced and issued on that day, barring Jews from owning or managing businesses
• Over 30000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps, though they were released a few months later, however, before they were released, nearly 1000 were murdered